Professional Development Library

Essential Tools of the Trade, 2nd Edition

Open captioned. ETT 2nd Edition includes everything you need to conduct rigorous, comprehensive FVE, NVSA, LMA, and ECC evaluations for school-aged students who are blind, or have low vision with or without complex access needs (CAN).

OT Sensory Efficiency Skills

Our senses (vision, hearing, touch, taste, smell) bring information from the outside world to our brains and allow us to understand what is happening around us. This is the basis for all learning. The sensory system develops in stages throughout our lifetimes. However, if this system is interrupted or impaired due to lack of sensory information to the brain or lack of sensory integration within the brain these stages may not occur in a typical fashion. In this session participants will:
Learn the ways in which our senses develop across time and experience
Understand how sensory development and processing shape our interactions with the world around us
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Managing Self-Care as You Care for the Children and Their Families You Support

“I cannot do ALL THE GOOD the world needs, but the world needs all the good I can do.” -Jana Stanfield

How do you manage the caring and compassion that is included in your profession? Have you found yourself over-invested, exhausted, and ‘not enough’ for the families and children you serve? Self-care can be seen as a necessity for self-preservation. In this presentation, we will be focusing on how provider fatigue can impact one’s health, similar to caregiver fatigue. Becoming more self-aware of what we can control, what boundaries we need to maintain, and how to STOP and breath will help us become more effective in our job. Open captioned.

The Stress-Trauma Continuum in Students with Visual Impairment

Open captioned. A mean comment about glasses, getting hit by a ball in PE, an inaccessible science graphic, or an embarrassing missed social cue are examples of experiences that might trigger the nervous systems of students and their families. For health and well-being, activated nervous systems need to return to a state of calm. When stress accumulates or trauma is unprocessed, mental health becomes compromised. This Coffee Talk explores the stress-trauma continuum in the context of visual impairment, potential effects on students and their families, and strategies for providing support.

Mental Health Matters – Managing Burnout and Boosting Resilience

Open captioned. Through fostering resilience, individuals can increase their ability to bounce back from adversity, maintain well-being, and thrive in both personal and professional spheres. Come ready to explore actionable strategies for recognizing and managing burnout, including setting boundaries, prioritizing self-care, and seeking support.

Braille Literacy for Babies and Toddlers: What Are You Waiting For?

Open Captioned. Introduction to braille is critical for babies and young children who are blind, have low vision, or are deafblind. Too many barriers exist for their literacy access and it's not as complicated as it sounds. Join us to learn about the importance of early braille exposure and access to resources.

Measuring and Maximizing Vision: Perspective from a Low Vision Specialist

Open Captioned. Necessity is the mother of invention. This line certainly holds true when measuring students’ visual acuity and visual field in informal settings such as the school hallway or the mobile low vision clinic. Come hear Dr. Jenny Wood, low vision specialist with Lumino Vision, describe her innovative strategies and tips in completing the eye exam for a range of students, including birth-three. Additional topics include developing and maximizing visual abilities and prescribing principles for optical devices including eyeglasses.

Low Vision and the ECC – Compensatory Access Skills

Open Captioned. Compensatory skills for students with a visual impairment involve the use of assistive technology, adaptations, and strategies that maximize a student’s opportunity to access information and engage with learning materials. This session will stress the importance of observation as a strategy to gather student performance information in actual settings, use this information to guide instruction and collaboration, and suggest lesson ideas for the population of students with low vision functioning in general education settings.

A Deep Dive into Multi-Media Learners with Low Vision

Open Captioned. Students who need multi-media to access instruction require a unique and individualized program for learning. Balancing instructional time for print, braille, and auditory formats so that they gain adequate skills simultaneously takes careful planning and much collaboration across team members. Join us to discover some considerations, tips, and tricks to successfully implementing a multi-media program for students with low vision.

Who Are Proficient Communicators and How Can We Support Them?

Open captioned. In recent years there has been a shift in the population of students on the Texas Deafblind Child Count indicating an increasing number of congenital deafblind students who are taking standardized state testing with or without accommodations. These children may be in general education classes performing at near, on, or above grade level, and typically have strong communication skills using speech, sign language, braille, and/or print. In this Coffee Hour presentation, we will look at 12 important considerations to be mindful of as we provide support to these students.